By Ritu Jha-
It has been a month that the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) has been dealing with new realities after it lost its majority in Parliament, thus readjusting the balance of power to some degree in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hoped to lead India on a platform based on Hindutva, has found himself facing as the opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who he once derided with the term ‘pappu,’ meaning small boy. And Gandhi’s maiden speech as leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, July 1, was challenging enough to fire up his supporters and spawn deep concern in the BJP.
The Modi-led government is not as free as it used to be, being dependent on its coalition partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). However, despite the competitiveness between the two leaders, members of the Indian diaspora have expressed hope that both Modi and Gandhi will focus on important issues – unemployment to start with.
Sanjay Subhedar, venture capitalist founding and managing director of Storm Ventures, is a longtime Congress supporter who hosted Gandhi at his home in 2017.
He told indica, “Modi became too big and too powerful. He thought he was the king and he was going to change India’s constitution. People got scared of that. And I think that’s why he lost.”
According to Subhedar, Modi’s divisive agenda backfired, based as it was on attacks on Muslims and Dalits, and wooing the Hindus in the nation. He said it was because India is a cosmopolitan country, with a very secular outlook.
“Historically, we have been very secular,” Subhedar said. “A good society is measured by how well it treats its minorities. If your minorities don’t feel comfortable and safe, then you’re not a good society. We need to be teaching tolerance and acceptance, not division. That’s why I think Modi lost seats at the general election.”
Asked whether Rahul Gandhi has changed a lot since the 2017 election, and his performance at the parliament, Subhedar smiled and said, “I don’t think he has changed a lot; he benefited from the anti-incumbency.”
Subhedar felt BJP made some mistakes in Uttar Pradesh, where it lost seats, by not picking the candidates chosen by Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister. Adityanath, who is perhaps further to the right than Modi, is viewed as a successor to Modi in the BJP. Given a possible threat to his power, Modi wanted to control everything, Subhedar said.
According to him, Modi and his deputy Amit Shah picked weaker candidates and so lost seats.
While a Congress supporter, Subhedar said, “Rahul Gandhi should learn how to be a good opposition. He should provide checks and balances to the government, but not become a hurdle in the way of improving the country.
Dr Richard Dasher, director of the U.S.-Asia Technology Management Center at Stanford University, said the current situation was a very good indication of a successful democracy.
“In a parliamentary democracy, forming the government is an interesting challenge. It’s great to see that this is proceeding the way that you would expect it to,” he told indica. Dasher is known for his work hosting the India Dialogue, a major annual conference about modern India and U.S. implications, and U.S. relations with India.
“It’s from the grassroots all the way up,” he said. “It has made me the happiest over the last 15 or 20 years that this relationship has grown. It will be very interesting to see what kind of policy changes might be made by India’s coalition government.”
